Gene pioneer signs his synthetic DNA creation

Artists usually sign their work - and genomics pioneer Craig Venter is no exception. Written into the sequence of the synthetic bacterial genome unveiled last week is his name, his institute's, plus those of other key researchers involved.

The genome, modelled on the parasite Mycoplasma genitalium, is the longest stretch of synthetic DNA ever produced, at around 580,000 bases. "We're pretty damned proud of what we've done, and we wanted to sign it," says Venter. To make their marks, the team took the one-letter abbreviations for amino acids - "C" for cysteine, "R" for arginine, "A" for alanine, and so on - and included the corresponding DNA sequences in their synthetic genome (Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.1151721).

These "watermarks" also have a serious purpose. The plan is to transplant the synthetic genome into a living Mycoplasma cell, in the hope that it will "boot up". The watermark sequences will provide ...

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